BAJAUR: Provincial Disaster Management Authority Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has distributed over Rs1.5 billion in cash assistance to families displaced by the ongoing targeted operation against terrorists in Bajaur tribal district.

The initiative was taken on the special directives of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to provide displaced families with vital financial support, according to a statement issued here on Thursday.

It added that every family received Rs50,000 in cash assistance and that on the chief minister’s directives, every verified household was being provided with an additional cash of Rs15,000 as a ration allowance.

The statement quoted PDMA director general Asfandyar Khattak as saying that around 28,000 families have been affected by the ongoing targeted security operation in Lowi Mamund and War Mamund tehsils, with 25,000 families verified by Nadra.

It said in order to fast-track verification, three mobile Nadra centres were set up through which almost 24,000 families had already received the assistance.

The PDMA said the distribution of relief assistance to displaced families was in full swing and would continue until every eligible family received it.

It said besides its senior officials, the chief minister, too, was closely monitoring the exercise.

The PDMA said besides three meals a day, it was also providing all basic facilities like health, education, clean drinking water and washrooms to the displaced persons in relief camps established at Bajaur Sports Complex Khar and in educational institutions.

Sobia Hussam Toru, director of PDMA’s Complex Emergency Wing for the merged tribal districts, said the authority’s employees remained on duty 24/7 inside the camps, while every returning family was provided with Rs25,000 as return cash grant.

She said despite the operation’s commencement during the peak monsoon season, which forced the PDMA to tackle flood emergencies and displacement crises simultaneously, “swift and effective relief was delivered on both fronts.”

The PDMA also said rehabilitation and resettlement of both flood and operation-affected families would begin soon.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Thursday provided dustbins to educational institutions sheltering internally displaced persons in Bajaur, ensuring a clean environment for both affected communities and students.

“The dustbins, part of the health and hygiene program funded by the International Committee of the Red Cross, were provided to several educational institutions sheltering displaced families,” the PRCS said in a statement.

It said the provision of dustbins would ensure a clean and healthy environment.

The PRCS added that similar facilities would be extended to several other institutions, primarily those sheltering internally displaced persons from operation-affected areas of Lowi and War Mamund tehsils.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2025